I nodded, hoping Tucker would keep his mouth shut for once, just let it happen.
The Turk said, “Gentlemen, what we are offering for sale here are not simply beautiful time-share duplexes and homes in one of the most beautiful rain forests in the world. What we are offering is a private, a very private, members-only club where a man-or, yes, a woman-may come and indulge any… any appetite or fantasy they wish. Indeed, the management of Club Gamboa will… strive to provide whatever… whatever is required to make your fantasies a reality.”
I wanted him to come out and say what he meant. “What you’re telling us is there’ll always be women available. So it’s like a whorehouse village. Or are there options?”
The laugh, that sniff! “Gentlemen, why am I talking when our Web page is designed to show you? Here… please consider what we have to offer. This feature” — he was moving the cursor, closing windows, opening others-“it is called… it is a video, a QuickTime video. Watch and you’ll learn much of what I’m sure you want to know.”
16
First I had to sit through a little bit of history on the Panama Canal. I watched the video patiently, already convinced that Merlot and Gail were at Gamboa, but also knowing that my best approach to Merlot was probably as a potential buyer. I wouldn’t receive a very warm welcome if I just walked up and said, “Hey, that lady you’ve been blackmailing? I’ve come to take her home.”
To convince Merlot that I was a legitimate buyer, I had to first convince the Turk.
Tucker was still smoking… Christ, wobbling now and humming country-western songs to himself… moving back and forth between the hookah and the computer as I watched helicopter footage fly me over locks and down a straight brown conduit of water, jungle on both sides, as the Powerbook spoke to me as if it were guiding a tour of Disney World: “The independent nation of Panama is completing its takeover of the Panama Canal and the land that sides it. It is the world’s most lucrative shipping route! The United States opened the canal in 1914 and, over the years, built ten military bases and American-style villages in prime areas of the fifty-mile-long, ten-mile-wide Canal Zone. Those facilities will soon be abandoned by the U.S.! The Zone is so beautifully maintained that outsiders often compare it to a national park. It consists of 560 square miles of prime land, much of it uncut tropical rain forest… and one of the Zone’s most beautiful little tropical colonies, Gamboa. Gamboa’s rain forest is the richest on earth. That’s no exaggeration. Honest. Biologists have counted 184 varieties of tree per hector there, a world record! Tiny Gamboa also holds the world record for the most birds counted in a contained area-525 species! In and around Gamboa you can also find more than 120 kinds of orchids plus all kinds of wild fruit and flowers. But know what? You’ll probably be too busy having fun to spend much time outside.”
The Turk interrupted, saying, “What it says next is important. Very important. As how you would say… background information that will make you feel secure about your investment.”
That seemed to be the sole objective of the video: convincing potential members that Panama was a safe investment. “Want to know why investors like you and me are being offered this extraordinary opportunity? Here’s the fascinating story: In 1977, the Carter Administration agreed to gradually turn over the canal and the land to Panama by December 31,1999. It was also agreed that the so-called Zonies-mostly Americans from families who’d worked in the Zone for several generations-would be phased out Prior to the Carter treaty, there were nearly twenty thousand Americans, or Zonies, living and working in the Canal Zone. On the afternoon of the transfer, fewer than 800 remaining Zonies will finish their last day at work and leave for good. Why should that be of interest to people looking for a unique new vacation paradise? “Here’s why: The Panamanian government considers the beautiful housing and facilities long provided for the Zonies to be among Panama’s most valuable assets. The Authority for the Interoceanic Region is willing to make these facilities available to good people like you and me at bargain prices… but only through select companies and individuals that they have chosen to administrate these properties… “
Meaning Merlot. But why had the AIR chosen someone like him?
As I started to ask, the Turk pressed an index finger to his lips
… then went ahead and spoke anyway. “What comes next, it will explain more. Why you will have wonderful security and support in Gamboa.”
The person doing the explaining was Club Gamboa’s founder and CEO, Jackie Merlot. Big smiling close-up of that hairless face and those BB-sized black eyes. How Merlot happened to be entrusted with control of a defunct golf club in a beautiful Panamanian village was not immediately spelled out. He was just there, a smiling giant, blond hair as if it were glued in place. The little video zapped through a montage of shots to keep it interesting- wildlife, hot springs, jungle rivers-while we were told that, in Panama, Mr. Merlot was a man who got things done…
And then Merlot was on camera. He looked massive in a tent-sized beige guayabera, a style of four-pocket linen shirt that all fat men wear in Latin America. He was walking through the flowered streets of what I assumed was Gamboa, talking to the camera. He had a smoky, curiously high-pitched voice, in which he began by speaking about his connections with “many important” Asian businessmen.
Strange. It seemed an odd choice of topics, but there it was. He had to be working some kind of angle.
I stood and listened to him explain that his “connections” were instrumental in approving an ingenious plan: The virgin rain forest on the Gamboa property would be harvested and a portion of the income would become a financial asset to all members. The timber revenue would finance remodeling and maintenance for the whole project, plus create more room for construction.
That, at least, made sense. Despoil a mountainside, despoil a human being. What was the difference?
Then he said, “Our project will be of particular interest to my many good friends from Chinese Hong Kong and Taiwan. I have personal knowledge of the modem Far East’s high standards of service, whether it’s business or pleasure. We know quality. That much you can be sure of.”
He didn’t seem nervous; was perfectly at ease, a man used to being in charge. No doubt about it, he was tailoring his sales pitch for Asians.
Why? And what kind of connections could he have in Asia?
I waited to find out as he told the camera that “Panama’s friendship with Asia has always been important. But now it’s more important than ever.” The reason? Huge smile. “Because there would be no Club Gamboa, — that’s why. Not if some of the most successful corporations in Hong Kong and Taiwan weren’t committed to playing major financial and organizational roles in the future of the New Panama Canal.”
One of the Chinese companies involved, he said, was Panama Ports, a subsidiary of a major Hong Kong conglomerate. Panama Ports had been awarded control of Panama’s two most valuable properties-the ports on either end of the canal, Colon and Balboa-with a twenty-five-year contract. The company would pay $22.2 million a year, plus would invest many times that in improvements!
Which was a big surprise to me-the Chinese were now in control of both ends of the Panama Canal?
And maybe that’s why Merlot was targeting Asian clients… but, in a strange way, he also seemed to be using Asia’s participation as a bona fide for his own small project.
Another very important addition to Panama, he said, was Evergreen, a Taiwanese shipping company that was beginning construction of a fifty-nine-acre terminal near the Colon Free Trade Zone. The project would cost about $100 million.
A third Chinese company, Tainan Ltd., solely owned and controlled by one of Taiwan’s wealthiest families, had also received major concession contracts from the Panamanian government. Among them were several tracts of housing, including Gamboa.